Cusco

The trip to the airport in Lima to catch our flight to Cusco is insane! Loads of traffic, noise, and many of the traffic police wear masks over their noses. We do NOT travel with the windows down here.

Arrived in Cusco and know that we are at 10,000 plus feet when we get off the plane! The city is in a valley high in the mountains and there are houses perched high up the sides around the city. We are taken to our hotel, which is near the central area, and it is inviting and wonderful. We get our first taste of coca tea and it really does help with the altitude thing. We meet our guide Boris and he takes us on a tour of Cusco. Another fascinating city. We visit a monastery built on the stone foundations of the Incans, and the history around us is palpable. We stand amazed at the engineering of the Incans as we look straight through 5 perfectly aligned windows in a series of 5 walls. I think that they would be laser level perfect! The examples of stonework are truly hard to believe. They basically cut tubes and 90 degree angles through the middle of the rocks, and by aligning them perfectly, created pipes through the rocks! Boris is invaluable as he points out how the Christians used many of the Incan symbols in the churches and paintings to help incorporate the people into the Church.